PB main event goes late into the night

By Nick Sortal

It went until 4:45 a.m. Tuesday, but Jonathan Tamayo ended up with the WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. Tamayo, 27, from Humble, Texas, pocketed $206,020. He has almost $900,000 in WSOP-related earnings. Tamayo finished 21st finish in the WSOP Main Event back in 2009. With the poker room nearing its state-mandated 5 a.m. closing time, Tamayo defeated Clint Tolbert of Moore, Okla. Tolbert had pocket fives, versus Tamayo's ace-jack. But an ace hit on the turn and Tolbert went home with $127,484. Tamayo has been playing poker full time for about five years. He graduated from Cornell University.This year's championship event attracted 670 players. That pushed the prize pool to more than $1 million. The top 72 players collected prize money.